Director Report Card: David Fincher (1985)

I think this is probably true for a lot of film nerds my age: I went through a David Fincher phase. Fincher's films mixed grit, dark humor, a highly stylized visual sense, and a layer of perhaps unearned pretensions to create the perfect appeal to edgy and self-serious young men. I grew out of my Fincher phase pretty quickly and was honestly turning my nose up at some of his later projects before they even came out. Maturity brings with it more perspective though. You don't need me to tell you that Fincher is among the most acclaimed American filmmakers alive right now. And for a good reason. It's certainly past time for me to revisit my Fincher phase and take another look at the beloved director's career in more detail.

1. The Beat of the Live Drum

David Fincher's first real experience as a filmmaker would occur in the realm of visual effects. He would be hired by Industrial Lights and Magic to work as a cameraman and a matte photographer in the early eighties. This made him a good choice to direct an eye-catching commercial for the American Cancer Society, which depicted a fetus smoking a cigarette. The stylish direction and moody tone of this 30-second spot would attract the attention of Hollywood producers. Soon enough, Fincher was making his name as a music video director. Very early in his career, he would direct several music videos for Rick Springfield. Out of this collaboration would emerge what is technically Fincher's feature length debut, “The Beat of the Live Drum.”

So what is “The Beat of the Live Drum?”  It's a seventy-one minute long Rick Springfield concert  movie, that was released direct-to-record-stores in 1985 by RCA Home Video. Yes, the Australian-born actor/pop star was, at this point in time, popular enough to support his own big budget concert movie. The film compiles together various performances from his latest tour with pre-filmed segments and several of the music videos Fincher also directed for Springfield. And if you're wondering, yes, he does sing “Jessie's Girl.”

Even speaking as someone with an eclectic musical taste, I can't say I've ever given much thought to Rick Springfield. I'm probably more familiar with his acting, via projects like “Nick Knight” and “Rikki and the Flash.” When it comes to my knowledge of Springfield's music, it probably begins and ends with “Jessie's Girl.” (The only one of his hits whose popularity resonates into the modern age.) I've heard defenses of Rick's deeper discography before... Yet “The Beat of the Live Drum” does little to convince me of Springfield's deeper talent. It's mostly over-produced, upbeat pop songs with lyrics about young love and the power of rock. They all completely blend together in my memory. Only a slow paced piano ballad about Springfield's deceased father sticks out.

If I found Rick Springfield's music to be largely forgettable, heavy on the overdone synths and artificial-sounding drumming, I still managed to find some things to admire about “The Beat of the Live Drum.” Springfield is, if nothing else, an energetic performer. He spends nearly the entirety of the film's run time leaping around the stage, dancing out onto a runway into the audience, or performing high kicks. He even does a spontaneous hand stand at one point. Truthfully, Springfield's gymnastics might be a little too theatrical. Several times, his exaggerated guitar playing or faux-belligerent posing with his back-up band comes off as a little too much. How much spinning and dancing is really necessary when performing rock 'n' roll?

In 1984, David Fincher's directorial style was still evolving. The high contrast black-and-white photography, low lighting, and specifically choreographed camera movements that would come to define his work, especially in music videos, was still a few years off. Yet you can definitely see the director attempting to elevate “The Beat of the Live Drum” above your typical concert movie. He often shoots the stage in ultra-wide screen, to emphasize its length. There's quite a few cinematic crane shots, swooping over the crowd and stage. As Springfield struts out onto the catwalk,  the camera progresses with him. 

In fact, Fincher was so eager to push “The Beat of the Live Drum” outside the boundaries of your typical concert film that he makes the movie's classification in the genre uncertain. The concert is obviously assembled from multiple performances. There are several shots that were clearly inserted afterwards, such as close-ups of people dancing in the crowd or Springfield reaching out to hold people's hands. Fincher also adds a number of obvious special effects throughout the concert. The first scene depicts Springfield performing before a silhouetted city. A futuristic blimp with a video screen inside is shown floating above the venue. Obviously fake fireballs blast around the stage. There's other video effects, like a projected face in the sky or a wispy feminine spectre floating overhead. It's an interesting choice to make the concert more cinematic. Yet adding this layer of artificiality to the concert removes much of the genuine spontaneity and energy you associate with a live performance. 

The visual effects were clearly an attempt to make “The Beat of the Live Drum” feel more like a music video. The film admits this connection several times, when it just cuts to a few of the music videos Fincher directed for Springfield. The first music video we're shown is “Celebrate Youth,” another painfully earnest pop ballad about the power of young people, I think. The video is mostly composed of Springfield dancing around playground equipment, intercut with footage of kids cheering or playing dress-up. The most striking thing about the video is that it's largely in black-and-white – an early Fincher trademark – with occasional burst of colors. This is still more interesting than “State of the Heart,” a maudlin romantic number that is devoted to Springfield moping around an expressionistic house set. Lots of rippling water and billowing curtains in that one.

These restrained and forgettable music videos stand in contrast to the completely fucking demented other two videos Fincher directed for Springfield. “Dance This World Away” has Rick playing a children's show host named Mr. Dick... Who resides in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, educating kids about nuclear annihilation. This is cut between Springfield dancing on a red-accented set of a ruined building and a bizarre dinner party, featuring Rick in-costume as a smoozing band leader. The video concludes with a nuclear missile rising out of the floor of the night club. All in service of some sort of moral about the Cold War, one assumes.

Even this oddball vision doesn't compare to “Bop 'Til You Drop.” This video depicts Springfield as part of an ash-covered race of alien slaves toiling in some sort of sci-fi mine, controlled by a cruel alien overseer with a skull-like face and a techno-organic reptilian body. Naturally, Rick leads a rebellion against him with the Power of Rock and flashing laser beams. The “Bop 'Til You Drop” video is so unhinged that it was obviously deemed too powerful to be included in “The Beat of the Live Drum.” Only a few minutes of the video are shown here but I absolutely implore you to look up the rest of it.

Not being much of a Rick Springfield fan, I was only able to get some limited enjoyment out of “The Beat of the Live Drum.” Trying to find crumbs of Fincher's evolving style here is mostly a fool's errand, as this was made very early in his career. The director would continue to develop his style throughout the eighties, directing a lot of music videos of singers dancing and performing in black-and-white, sometimes with shimmering visual effects. It wasn't until the end of the decade – with more visually appealing and story-driven videos like “Straight Up,” “Express Yourself,” “She's a Mystery to Me,” “Cradle of Love,” or "Janie's Got a Gun" – that the signs of the talent to come would really emerge. “The Beat of the Live Drum” is truly only for Rick Springfield super-fans and people like me who are trying to watch all of David Fincher's movies. [Grade: C]